Sleep and lots of it

I told you yesterday that I was tired. I got home from work last night at 8pm and went right to bed. The thought process was to nap. I slept until 2:30, woke up, let the dogs out and went back to sleep. The alarm went off at 7 and I still didn't get out of bed for another 45 minutes. I guess I was a bit tired.

This week we will start receiving new colours from Sirdar. Baby Bamboo should be in the shipment coming on Tuesday. There are four new colours.

166

165

164

163

New patterns will not be in the shipment. I was told they won't be here until the beginning of August.

Neckwarmer from Malabrigo Book 3

Also coming this week are seven colours of Rasta from Malabrigo. Why am I excited that this is coming in when the weather is so hot outside? The yarn is impossible to get. If the supplier receives a shipment then we have to take it right away. If we wait, even a week, they will be out of stock again. One skein will make a great cowl. Take a look at this pattern suggestion on Ravelry.

Interweave Knits weekend has arrived.

Simple stitches for spring, colorful yarns and easy lace for summer, tweedy cables and bright colorwork for fall, and pretty little embellishments for winter keep you knitting all year long.

See all the photos (and bonus photos) from the magazine.

It's almost closing time. I'm not heading home but walking down the street to Hanley's Eyewear. My mom wants me to help her pick out frames. You know it is going to cost me money because I am going to see some that I want.

Rowan Colourspun

I've been dragging myself around the store today. Getting up at 4am isn't a good thing for the body. Okay, it might have been okay if I went to bed at a decent hour but we had to watch Big Brother and Expedition Impossible. Keith going home on Big Brother was great. He was so confident.

Thankfully the golf starts at 7am tomorrow morning. Three extra hours of sleep.

I just received an email from UPS that the fall Rowan has been shipped. There are 9 boxes coming. I won't be able to start tracking the boxes to find the delivery date until tomorrow.

Colourspun is a new yarn for fall.
72% Wool
14% Mohair
14% Polyamide

135m (148 yds) on a 50 gram ball

22 stitches and 30 rows = 4" on 4mm needles.  Colourspun is a true double knitting yarn. There are many, many patterns available in the store and online that will work with Colourspun.

270

271

272

273

274

275

276

277

278

279

These garments in Colourspun are from the new Nordic Tweed magazine.

Elina by Marie Wallin

Edna by Lisa Richardson

Svana by Lisa Richardson

It's time to sign off and get back to the website. I'm trying to get everything ready so it can go live when the Rowan arrives.

The great kettle search

You are going to wonder why I thought of this story now. It is 5am and I have been up for an hour watching the British Open. I am drinking a mug of tea and it got me thinking about buying a kettle in Myrtle Beach. Buying a kettle there was not easy. When I was there in May I looked in six stores for an electric, auto shut off kettle. Target, three different Walmarts, Bed, Bath and Beyond and a kitchen store. Some stores didn't have a kettle. In other stores the cheapest kettle was $50. Yes, $50. I'm not making it up. I gave up and decided that we would buy one in Canada and bring it with us. I totally forgot and we got to the house with no kettle. During our first afternoon in the house we went grocery shopping and bought a $10 kettle. The only problem is that it wasn't auto shut off. That was important-we will be renting out our house and don't want people visiting to forget about the kettle and burn down our house. At the end of our trip we went to the other Outlet Mall in Myrtle (there is one right by our house and another 20 minutes away). For some reason I dragged Beth into a kitchen store and Bingo! A kettle, with auto shut off (the exact same kettle as in my kitchen here) for $19.99.  SOLD.

It's now 3pm and I am getting very sleepy. Here is the knitting that I have been working on. Most of this was done last night while watching Big Brother and this morning.

Hitchhiker in Noro Taiyo Sock. Now looking at my picture I see that I hung it on the fence upside down. OOPS!

Big Brother is not going to be the same without Evil Dick. The vote tonight is going to be interesting. Which way will the house go?

Lots of Colour

This morning was spent working on Knitting Camp. All class confirmation emails have gone out. If you didn't receive yours, please let me know. A newsletter is going out later this week with the weekend agenda. Now the homework. Fiona and Elizabeth have their homework list ready. I need to sit down and do mine. :) I am trying to make the least amount of homework possible but that is hard when you are teaching a class about casting off. The students must have a swatch made for each cast off before they come to class. I don't feel like thinking about it right now so onto better things.

Yesterday afternoon I unpacked a box from Mountain Colors. There are great new colours in Bearfoot sock yarn.

This soft, washable wool blend (60% Superwash Wool, 25% Mohair, 15% Nylon) is perfect for socks and baby gifts.
There are 350 yards in 100g skein which is enough to knit a pair of socks.
Tension of 6-7 stitches to one inch.

Prairie Rose

Summertime

Trading Post

Lilac

Headwaters

I took these pictures from the Mountain Colors website. It doesn't matter what I do, I can't make them bigger. Okay, I can make them bigger but then they are fuzzy. I figured small and clear was the best way to go.

I don't have any personal knitting to report. I did pull my knitting out of the bag last night and pulled the needle right out of my scarf. All stitches are back on the needle. I then decided that sitting quietly on the couch would be better for my back than knitting. This afternoon could be a different story. My fingers are starting to itch again.

And I was set to start knitting until Ms. Canada Post brought in some boxes that I needed to unpack.

The blocking wires have finally arrived!! We have fine wires for lace and thicker wires for blocking sweaters.

There was also a large box of Kauni that included two colours that we haven't had before.

Meet EME. Red, hot pink and cranberry.

And this is EPA. Chocolate, beige and ecru.

There were some patterns as well.

Menlo Cardigan. The model is knit in colours EA and EZ, alternating between 2 rows of one colour and 2 rows of the other. The cardigan is knit from the top down-no sewing when finished.

I was typing away on my post when I saw that there was mail to look at. I missed hitting Mail and opened the App Store instead. Three new apps downloaded. Darn App Store.

Big Brother tonight!! Don't forget to set your DVR.

Rowan 50 part 2

Jane just emailed me pictures of Holly. AMAZING!! I can't wait to see it in real life.

And the picture that is going to freak most of you out. Here is the back. Yes, those are all the ends that Jane will be sewing in.

Here are some more pictures from Rowan Magazine 50. It still hasn't arrived. HURRY!! I must admit that when I first looked at the magazine I wasn't impressed. Then I saw many of the garments knit up in June and they really impressed me. Now that I am looking at the pictures again I am getting very excited. Many customers make this comment about the Rowan magazines. When flipping through quickly nothing grabs them. Then when they sit down and really look there are many, many things that they would love to knit.

I did receive my store information on the book. Now I can tell you the yarns that are used for each design.

I am adding captions to the pictures. Fingers crossed they won't mess up the post.

Wrath by Erika Knight
Knit in Kid Classic

Passion by Amanda Crawford
Knit in Cocoon

Amour by Amanda Crawford
Knit in Silk Twist

Laurel by Marie Wallin
Knit in Kid Classic

Hornbeam by Martin Storey
Knit in Felted Tweed Aran

Elm by Martin Storey
Knit in Felted Tweed and Cashsoft 4ply

Carrie by Marie Wallin
Knit in Wool Cotton

Debra's Garden

I'm back at work.  A few orders have been placed and then I unpacked boxes.

Needle Gauges from Debra's Garden are back in stock.

We also received faux leather tape measures. Hot Pink. Orange. Bright Red. Deep Purple. What colour do you think I put in my knitting bag?

I need to stop unpacking and relax for a while. I saw my chiropractor this morning. I golfed for a week and did not hurt but I did something yesterday afternoon. There is a pain in my back and when she touched it this morning I almost hit her. I have pulled a muscle. No lifting for me today. I am trying to listen to her but there are things to be done.

Since I am sitting for a bit how about we talk about Big Brother? Bringing back past pairs is a good thing but I wish they left out Brendon and Rachel. That voice is so annoying. Mike Boogie and Doctor Will would have been great. Okay, Brendon and Rachel with Mike and Will would have been amazing. Can you imagine the fights that would be going on in the house?

It's time to get some mail orders packed and then straightening shelves. Stay cool this afternoon.

Home Again

It has been a very long day. My alarm went off at 3:15 this morning. There was lots to do before going to the airport. Change the sheets on the beds. Unload the dishwasher. Take out the garbage. Finish packing our bags. Then we had to pack the car and go to mom and dads. Their neighbour Carl was there to meet us at 5 to drive us to the airport. The flight left Myrtle Beach at 7 and we landed in Niagara Falls at 8:40. Our bags came right away and we were on the way. There was no delay at the border and we were in our house by 10:30. Of course there was a stop at Tim Hortons.

We played 9 holes of golf on Saturday before a huge thunderstorm hit Myrtle Beach. They called everyone in from the course for lightening so we called it a day. I was sad because after 9 I was tied with Beth. That doesn't happen very often. :)

Yesterday Beth's back was a bit sore so we played tourist. Breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Then a drive down Ocean Boulevard. It was the first time I have been along the strip in close to 25 years. It still looks how I remember it. Then we went to Broadway at the Beach to walk around.

Since we were playing tourist.

Yesterday I really wished that I had a little boy. We came across the most amazing store. Think Build a Bear for boys.

RidemakerZ

There are just a few stores in the US right now but I'm guessing we will see more popping up soon. Way too cool!!

You choose your car and then pimp it out.

For the fans of Cars.

There are cars for girls as well. The flowers are decals that you can add.

The rims were amazing!

You could add parts to make it remote control. We had to get out of there because Beth was very close to making a car.

Rowan Magazine 50 will be arriving soon along with the smaller magazines that Rowan produces each season.

Rowan Evolution has 12 designs from Marie Wallie, Lisa Richardson and Grace Melville.

Felted Tweed Chunky
Drift
Big Wool
Kidsilk Haze

Janelle

And the interesting back of Janelle

Tate

Marnie

Vivian-a long belted vest

These designs show that bulky sweaters don't have to be boxy and oversized.

I need to start working on mail orders. Tonight is the Home Run Derby. We will be sitting in front of the TV yelling for Jose Bautista. Go Joey Bats!!